Karl Decena, InterAKTV | International Labour Organization photo
Philippine football stars Phil and James Younghusband conducted a football clinic for around 200 poor children to join the worldwide fight against child labor.
Dubbed the “Lakas-Sipa para sa Batang Malaya,” the football clinic on Tuesday at the Emperador Stadium in McKinley Hill is part of the worldwide campaign against child labor initiated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which aims to end “the worst forms of child labor” by 2016.
“We need to support our children to stay in school and ensure decent and productive work for their parents. It may be a challenge, but if we work together as a team, I believe it is possible,” said Lawrence Jeff Johnson, director of the ILO country office in the Philippines.
Poor children who used to work in sugar cane fields, farms, dumpsites, dangerous streets and private homes participated in the football clinic spearheaded by the Younghusband brothers. They were also given school supplies, football shoes and kits.
Participants of the football clinic will also comprise the teams that will compete in a tournament scheduled in October.
Representatives from different organizations and the Philippine government led by the Department of Labor and Employment, as well as ambassadors from different countries, also graced the event.
The ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour started in 1992 and has operations in 88 countries, including the Philippines. By 2016, it aims to end the worst forms of child labor such as slavery, trafficking, prostitution and other kinds of work which are likely to harm children.
The National Child Labor Committee, chaired by DOLE, launched in 2012 the “Batang Malaya: Child labour free Philippines” campaign last year to support the ILO in alleviating child labor in the country.
Around 215 million children aged 5-17 worldwide are victims of hazardous child labor, with 3 million of them coming from the Philippines.
SOURCE: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/phil-and-james-younghusband-spearhead-football-program-against-child-labor